For me, growing up in Detroit, scarves meant cold weather. But I remember working in a store, and we had some silk scarves - like, wide scarves with fringe - and because I had seen the English rockers wearing skinny silk scarves, I took the scarves, cut and sewed them, and made them long - almost like a tie.

John Varvatos

Categorized in : Me Long Remember Weather

It's not so much the color of suit as it is about the fit, cut, style, and, of course, attitude you have when wearing it.

John Varvatos

cutting color attitude

No matter what though, there's always rock & roll. There's rock 'n' roll in hip-hop, there's rock & roll in pop music, there's rock 'n' roll in soul, there's rock 'n' roll in country. When you see people dress and their style has an edge to it, that rebellious edge that bubbles up in every genre, that's rock & roll. Everybody still wants to be a rock star.

John Varvatos

rocks stars country

Our philosophy is about reaching back to move forward. We have something different to say with a sensibility that is both old and new.

John Varvatos

old-and-new philosophy moving

Success is a funny thing. It means different things to different people. For me, I am always pleased when people connect to your brand. It means you are executing in a manner that speaks to a wide variety of businesses.

John Varvatos

different mean people

Bruno Mars is pretty fashionable. Gary Clarck Junior, who was also in our ad with Jimmy Page, is a super super stylish guy.

John Varvatos

mars pages guy

Success is a funny thing. It means different things to different people. For me, I am always pleased when people connect to our brand. It means we are executing in a manner that speaks to a wide variety of businesses.

John Varvatos

funny-things mean people

You haven't seen me in my own ads. You don't see my logo all over my clothes. From the beginning, I wanted the clothes to stand on their own.

John Varvatos

logos clothes wanted

Music has always been a dominant force in my life. As a young kid, it was a way for me to escape everyday life. Today, it's a source of expression. I enjoy looking at old photos of some of my favorite rock icons, but also get inspired from the younger bands that are coming up and really creating their own style, their own image.

John Varvatos

style everyday kids

I believe that if you think about what style means, you won't become a fashion victim.

John Varvatos

fashion mean believe

I spent a lot of years working for Ralph Lauren, and he had so many copycats, from Tommy Hilfiger to Abercrombie & Fitch to J.Crew.

John Varvatos

copycats lauren years

The biggest ones [online stores] I go back to are Amazon.com and eBay.com because it’s great for music and books... I collect vintage vinyl records.

John Varvatos

vintage records vinyl

The great thing about living in New York is the constant change of things. It inspires me to keep moving, push forward, question ideas. I have a heavy travel schedule so being in a new environment always gives me another perspective to see things from.

John Varvatos

perspective giving moving

I grew up in a very small house with five brothers and sisters and my parents, all with one little bathroom. And from as early as I can remember, seven, eight years old, I was listening to music to get a way from it all. Then the discovery of all this amazing stuff that became more than just getting away from it, it became a part of my DNA.

John Varvatos

eight dna brother

I loved the MC5 and the Stooges, but also, the British Invasion - the Kinks and the Yardbirds - and then Led Zeppelin, of course. Alice Cooper was one of my favorite bands.

John Varvatos

zeppelins band bird

The shirt may be cut slimmer or looser, the suit might be darker or lighter, the sneakers might not have laces, but you're still talking about shirts and suits and sneakers.

John Varvatos

sneakers cutting talking

A part of my kind of design and inspiration ethos is that I carry around a leather notebook and I sketch in it, doodle in it, write notes in it and I put pictures in it.

John Varvatos

notebook inspiration writing

There's rock n' roll in hip-hop, there's rock n' roll in pop music, there's rock n' roll in soul, there's rock n' roll in country. When you see people dress, and their style has an edge to it, that rebellious edge that bubbles up in every genre, that's rock n' roll. Everybody still wants to be a rock star, you know?

John Varvatos

dress you music soul

Sit-ups and push-ups work without a gym.

John Varvatos

push-ups without gym work

I like someone who has a little bad boy in them, a little edge.

John Varvatos

boy someone bad bad-boy

I shop a lot online... and just the ease of it makes a lot more sense.

John Varvatos

sense more just online